Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

San Francisco Fire and Earthquake

I must say that I am a little sad that Great Generals week is over. I enjoyed the lively discussions and comments. Appears the matter of the unpleasantness of '61 is still not settled in some people's mind. Anyway, we start a new week with this picture, from the great earthquake and fire of 1906 in San Francisco. The picture shows the hospital near the Union Ferry building. You can see smoke from the city in the background.

Domestic Update:

Several have asked about the peacocks and chickies. Sorry I do not have a picture for you this morning, but I can report that Handsome is getting a nice set of tail feathers coming in, and he spends quiet a lot of time strutting around all day. When he starts that business Lovie gets mad, and goes over and pecks him hard on the head. The chickies are all grown up, and are looking pretty much like full size chickens. I am sad to report that egg production has been somewhat disappointing. Total egg count to date is 0 eggs produced. I have a real good friend that has a little "farm" in Palo Alto, California. He has 10 chickens. He says his egg production is excellent. He is married to a wonderful woman from Vietnam. He says she runs a tight ship, and any chicken that does not produce an egg two days in a row goes in the soup pot. He says he is getting about six eggs a day from each chicken. So, maybe I need to go to that system and see if production increases.

Wow! What a swell picture. The smoke in the background is amazing surrounding the Ferry Building clock tower - which has a leaning flag pole. Then in the foreground you have a working steamer blowing smoke beautifully in the other direction, outside a well-labeled emergency station, with newer electrical lights with wires going everywhere. There are sailors with rifle and bayonet, young kid, men in bowlers, suspenders! What a terrific photo! Thanks for sharing.

I remember reading a short pieceby Jack London, who saw the earthquake from his boat, anchoredoff San Francisco.He said the sea around him wastotally calm, which I thought quite strange, considering whathe was observing.

In 1906, my father was 5 years old and lived in Kingsville, Texas, which was pretty much off the beaten track in those days. Yet, young as he was, he remembered his family and all the neighbors gathering clothing and blankets and taking them to the church where they then sent them off by train to San Francisco as part of the relief effort.

I used to live in San Francisco and have been though several earthquakes. The possibility of another earthquake is always there in the back of my mind. California is earthquake country.

A top producing chicken could lay one egg a day for 3+ days and then would need a day off. They also molt and stop laying for a while. Chickens don't lay more than one egg a day. Some chickens never lay an egg.

How to identify which hens are laying:http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Evaluating_egg_laying_hens.pdf

I bet your chickens start laying within the month. If they do not, you know the old saying - a bad chicken makes good soup.Roosters are not required for hens to lay eggs - it might stimulate behavior, but not required. My hens - large breeds - started laying during a record cold snap in November when they turned five months old and have been consistent ever since. They also spend the days outdoors foraging and they lay eggs in a different location from the little coop where they roost. It seems to work for them. I'm rather fond of them, but one day day they will stop laying and it's not sensible to keep the non-layers so we ought to eat them. A friend of mine who is consumed with the organic "locavore" lifestyle thinks she can give away her hens for pets when they stop laying. She isn't willing to be a REAL locavore and eat the chickens in her backyard. She asked if she could give me non-laying hens because I live on a farm. I said "sure, we'll eat them." She got upset.

Callie not only is California earthquake country, major parts of SFO were built on reclaimed land! It's scary to think but liquifaction is a huge concern in the area and a cause of much of the damage in the Oakland quake.

About Me

I grew up in West Texas, and could not wait to get away. I got away, and went to the University of Texas, and then on to Stanford. I saw the world, and decided what I really wanted was to be in West Texas. So here I am, right back where I started. I had it all, and found it was not that great.

I have been an avid collector of old photographs and documents for over 30
years. The photographs on this site are derived from material I have collected
over the years. Some came from old family albums, some from material I bought at
flea markets over the years, and some from government archives of public domain
images, including the US Library of Congress, and the National Archives. We
appreciate you visiting this blog, and hope you find it interesting.

Comments on this site are
moderated. We reserve the right to remove any comments at our discretion.